Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Altoona, Pennsylvania - 11 schools
An equity score of 50/100 ranks Altoona Area Sd #305 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,639 per pupil, Altoona Area Sd ranks #588 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,226
Total Enrollment
11
Schools
$14,639
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Altoona Area Sd operates 11 public schools serving 7,226 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 8 elementary, 2 combined, 1 middle schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Blair County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,639 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 25.8% local, 56.9% state, and 17.3% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 50/100, ranked #305 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 11 schools offering Advanced Placement (18 AP courses district-wide), a 411.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 22.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 81.0% White, 8.4% African American, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Penn-Lincoln El Sch, with a diversity index of 46.4/100.
Its largest campus is Altoona Area Hs, enrolling 2,255 students (33% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Kimmel Alternative School, at 1 students, a 2255x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Altoona Area Hs accounts for 31.2% of all Altoona Area Sd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Altoona Area Sd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Altoona Area Sd school enrollment varies 2255× across entities
Altoona Area Sd school enrollment ranges from 1 students (lowest) to 2,255 students (highest), a spread of 2,254 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Altoona Area Sd has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 64.5% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Altoona Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 412:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Altoona Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 22.2% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Variation between sub-units within Altoona Area Sd is typically wider than the Altoona Area Sd-aggregate figure suggests.
Altoona Area Sd has 11 schools, including 2 combined, 1 middle, 8 elementary. Total enrollment is 7,226 students.
How much does Altoona Area Sd spend per student?
Altoona Area Sd spends $14,639 per student. The district has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #305 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Altoona Area Sd?
Altoona Area Sd students are 81.0% White, 8.4% African American, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 11 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Altoona Area Sd?
Altoona Area Sd has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #305 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.